These Chocolate Muffins are lightly sweetened, so they are the perfect breakfast treat or afternoon snack.
Let’s face it– when you eat a muffin for breakfast, it feels a lot like you’re eating cake for breakfast. That’s perfectly okay once in a while- no judgement here! But these muffins are a little more like a breakfast pastry than cake. They are sweet, but not overly so. I wouldn’t exactly call them “healthy” chocolate muffins, but they are not filled with as much fat and sugar as traditional muffins. They deliver a nice amount of chocolate in the muffin and then with chocolate chips mixed in too.
This recipe comes from a cookbook called, My Perfect Pantry by Geoffrey Zakarian. The book shares 150 recipes from 50 readily available, easy-to-find ingredients that you can keep in your pantry. Zakarian shares the whole list of ingredients- most of which you probably already have on hand! I bought this book when we were all hunkered down in our houses last year, and it has been a nice book to source from for new recipes.
Here are a few of the recipes in the book that have caught my eye: Almond-Crusted Pork Chops with Apples, Beef Barley Bisque, Marinated Flank Steak with Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Magnificent Meatballs, Dark Chocolate Pudding, Spicy Coconut Tempura Shrimp, Grilled Maple-Mustard Chicken Skewers, New England Pot Roast, Spicy Peanut Butter Slaw and Bananas Foster Smoothie. Honestly, there are a lot of really great recipes in this book!
How to make Chocolate Muffins:
Semisweet chocolate and butter are melted to provide the base of the chocolate flavor in the muffin. I suggest buying semisweet baking chocolate and breaking it apart to melt with the butter. In a pinch, use semisweet chocolate chips. The melted chocolate and butter are combined with the rest of the batter, and then chocolate chips or chocolate chunks are stirred in at the end.
The batter is scooped into paper liners in a muffin tin. You can also just bake them directly in the muffin tin if you prefer not to have liners. I like to use a springform ice cream scoop for scooping muffin batter into the pan. You’ll get nice, even-sized muffins!
These chocolate muffins will rise up slightly and crack on top as they expand.
What’s the best way to store muffins:
Let the muffins cool completely. Line a covered container with paper towels. Place muffins on top of the paper towels, and put another paper towel on top of the muffins. The purpose of the paper towel is to absorb any excess moisture that the muffins may produce as they sit at room temperature. Place the lid on the container, and keep at room temperature for up to 4 days. Muffins can be frozen in a sealed container or large freezer zip baggie for up to 3 months. Let them thaw at room temperature when ready to eat.
If you’re a chocolate-lover, this is the best way to get chocolate for breakfast. Bake some chocolate muffins for breakfast, and get your chocolate-fix at the beginning of the day. Enjoy!
Chocolate Muffins
Ingredients
- 6 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
- ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
- ⅔ cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup chocolate chunks or chips
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Melt the semisweet chocolate and the butter together in a double boiler and stir until smooth. Let cool slightly. You can also melt it in the microwave in short bursts- stirring after each- until melted and smooth.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sugar until smooth, and then whisk in the buttermilk and vanilla. Drizzle in the melted chocolate mixture, whisking constantly until smooth. Add the sifted flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until just combined; don’t over-mix. Stir in the chocolate chunks or chips.
- Divide the batter among the muffin cups. Bake on the middle rack until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
